Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 605 Opening (33)

"Venice is really dirty and smelly... The worst part is that the Italian police are so unreasonable. I encountered a few Chinese tourists who were sitting on the ground, and they came over to fine them... I'm confused, is there some rule I don't know about?"

"I went and argued with them for a bit, and after I revealed that I was a director attending the film festival, they left..."

"An arrogant country. I really don't understand. What does Italy have to be arrogant about? Venice is such a crappy place that it can't even compare to Zhouzhuang, let alone Wuzhen or Fenghuang Ancient Town. It's a complete piece of garbage!"

"The film festival officially opens tomorrow, and I hope to have a good experience."

Shen Yan didn't tolerate Venice's behavior and posted a Weibo post that night, giving a genuine rant about Venice!

I also checked the previous Weibo post... wow, it had over 100 million discussions!
It was like what Shen Yan said: "...Anyway, I've given up on the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards. I feel like my chances of winning the Golden Lion Award are even higher than winning the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards!"

The user ranked first asked, "Why do you say that?"

A bunch of people replied: "This means Brother Yan has given up on the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards! The Hundred Flowers Awards are clearly a people's award, so whoever has the highest box office should win. Speaking of box office, who can compare to Brother Yan? But the Best Director award went to Zhao Yanzi, and the Best Film award went to 'The Grandmaster'... I'm really speechless. Does 'The Grandmaster' have any audience support?"

"And what about the golden rooster?"

"I don't know, but I felt 'American Dreams in China' was very smooth... We did a close-up analysis, and the director put a lot of effort into the background music and sound transitions. The narrative rhythm, combined with the music, made it easy to immerse oneself in the scene. Secondly, it was full of details, such as the clothing in different scenes and the characters' expressions at different times, which made it unforgettable... Anyway, in the last ten years, I haven't seen a more amazing debut film than 'American Dreams in China,' but this film only won Best Original Screenplay, while Zhao Yanzi's 'So Young' won Best New Director... If I were in that situation, I wouldn't be happy either!"

Of course, some people also said, "Shen Yan only makes commercial films, and commercial films rarely win awards!"

'Shen Yan has already made a name for himself at the box office, so why should he expect awards?'

Shen Yan clicked on the comment and replied directly: "It's normal, because I'm not in the mainstream film industry. I didn't even graduate from an art school, and I don't belong to the academic faction represented by the judges. I haven't even joined the so-called Directors Guild yet... I'm a grassroots, an outsider... Of course, if I were willing to kneel down, I could become one of them, but I'm too proud to kneel down!"

After replying, he wondered if any fans would comment, "Why didn't you kneel?"

He added, "Because I'm not afraid!"

Yes, that can be considered a historical allusion!

Unfortunately... "Rise of the Legend" hasn't been released yet...

Moreover, even if it is released, it will take several years for this line to become popular, after all, "Rise of the Legend" is too bad!

Oh, Shen Yan's complaints about Venice have resonated with many netizens...

A bunch of people shared their unpleasant experiences while traveling in the comments section!

"Of all of Europe, Italy is the worst. Every time I go to Italy, I encounter unpleasant things: thieves, Italians who lack a sense of contract, scammers, and so on!"

"Venice is a disastrous tourist destination, with the most unreasonable prices and the lowest quality of tourism services in the world."

"Venice is really terrible. If you stay on the island, you have to put up with the awful accommodations, and being close to the sea means there's a constant fishy stench..."

Of course, some people countered: "You can stay on Giudeca Island, you don't have to stay on the main island of Venice... Venice has so many works of art and so many historical sites, I love it so much, I can't even see all the museum exhibits!"

Then… Shen Yan uploaded photos taken during the day: the water was yellowish-green, St. Mark's Square was covered with pigeon droppings, and centuries-old building bricks and tiles were scribbled on with spray paint. The narrow alley was corroded by urine stains at the base of the walls…

"Do I need to upload more pictures? Don't argue with me, I'm in Venice right now!"

"Besides, I'm not really interested in European art... I don't like oil paintings, and I don't appreciate Western architecture or Gothic architecture much... To put it bluntly, I'm just a country bumpkin Chinese!"

Despite the less-than-ideal experience, it didn't affect the opening ceremony the following day...

A long red carpet stretched from afar all the way to the dock, welcoming distinguished guests arriving by boat.

The guests who arrived by boat, besides the members of the jury for this year's Venice Film Festival, were mainly members of the "Birdman" crew...

Birdman is a feature film, a true Hollywood movie, starring Michael Keaton, Emma Stone, and Edward Norton.

Although they may not be as famous as Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, or Tom Cruise, the three of them are already the biggest stars at Venice this year!

Michael Keaton was the original actor who played Batman!
Edward Norton, a gifted actor, received an Oscar nomination for his debut film, *Primal Fear*, and went on to overshadow Brad Pitt in *Fight Club*...

However, Edward Norton has primarily acted in independent films and rarely appeared in major commercial films, so his fame is somewhat limited…

But even if it's weaker, it's still better than the trio from the "Burning" cast...

As the cast of the opening film, Shen Yan, Dilraba, and Wang Kai were the last to walk the red carpet.

The red carpet felt deserted to Shen Yan; there were many media reporters, but very few fans.

According to information he had read in the newspapers, the number of media reporters at this year's Venice Film Festival was at least one-third more than in previous years—most of them were Chinese media and reporters, all there for "Burning".

So, as soon as he stepped onto the red carpet, a bunch of Chinese media were chanting Shen Yan's name...

"Shh!"

Shen Yan made a shushing gesture, wanting to finish walking the red carpet as quickly as possible…

So embarrassing!

It was no use. A group of people seemed to be doing it on purpose, chanting names like "Shen Yan," "Dilraba," and even Wang Kai's name...

It made the three of them extremely embarrassed. After finally walking the red carpet, they arrived at the interview area.

"I am honored that 'Burning' was selected as the opening film. This is not only an honor for me personally, but also an honor for Chinese-language cinema!"

"...I admire the Venice Film Festival very much; it's the oldest film festival in the world..."

Shen Yan said a lot of high-sounding words, and then ended the interview…

Upon entering the cinema, Shen Yan led Dilraba and Wang Kai to the screening hall, where they were greeted with enthusiastic applause.

Although many people may not know Shen Yan, the fact that "Burning" was selected as the opening film of the main competition shows that the film is definitely top-notch!
Oh, and Emma Stone came to see "Burning" too...

She received an offer to star in "La La Land." The script was... so-so, and not particularly appealing, but it was a musical, and she had never acted in a purely musical before, so she was somewhat interested. However, she didn't know much about director Shen Yan's abilities...

I happened to be in Venice during the premiere of "Burning," so I decided to check it out...

(End of this chapter)